Va. Teen Faces Child Porn Charges For Tweeting Nude ‘Selfie’

JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (CBSDC) — A local teenager is facing child pornography charges after police say she shared nude photographs of herself on the social networking site Twitter.

According to WAVY, the unnamed 16-year-old suspect took “selfies” in which she was not wearing clothing, then shared them online at the end of last month.

Officials with the James City County Police Department told the station that teenagers sometimes fail to grasp the severity of the situation when publicly sharing private materials.

“It’s not just friends that see what they post but also strangers and everyone else out there,” Stephanie Williams-Ortery, a representative of the department, told WAVY. “You have no idea who’s out there watching. You never know who’s going to see what you post.”

A school resource officer was informed of the then-publicly available photographs’ lewd nature, and talked with both the teen and her mother about the situation.

Authorities then confiscated her phone and charged her with one count of distribution of child pornography.

The matter could become a criminal one with the potential of jail time, though experts who spoke with WAVY said that she will likely have to complete a Sexting Education program.

Officials hope a lesson has been learned by the teenager — and by others around her age — either way.

“I would hope that they would not then forward it on to their friends because then they become guilty also of distribution of child pornography, whether they know that or not,” Williams-Ortery was quoted as saying.